Every so often, I come across a story that simply breaks my heart. Last fall, it was the death in childbirth of a 12-year-old girl who had been forced, because of her family's financial hardship, to drop out of school and marry a man twice her age. She died of severe bleeding after a three-day labor, and her baby also died.
This story is a little different, but no less tragic. Another 12-year-old Yemeni girl, named Elham Mahdi, was married to a man twice her age. But she died only three days after her wedding. The cause of death was internal bleeding following sexual intercourse.
This case represents the latest in a series of well-publicized stories of child brides in Yemen, where the U.N. estimates that 1 in 3 girls are married off before the age of 18. Early marriage is often a financial necessity for families, who often extract a promise from the husband to wait to consummate the marriage until the bride is older.
"Early marriage places girls at increased risk of dropping out of school, being exposed to violence, abuse and exploitation, and even losing their lives from pregnancy, childbirth and other complications," UNICEF said, quoted in a CNN article. They also cited the story of Fawziya Ammodi, the young woman who died in childbirth last fall, as well as the divorce trial of 10-year-old Nujood Ali, who escaped from a husband who beat and raped her in the weeks following their wedding.
As the president of the Seyaj Organization for the Protection of Children points out, the immediate cause of many of these deaths is poor medical care and, in the case of girls who die in childbirth, an inability or unwillingness to use contraceptives. But he says that the underlying problem is the fact that child marriages are still so common.
I wrote last fall that I hope that we don't simply condemn Yemeni extremists, although there are certainly people in the government who are using Sharia law to prop up a patriarchal system where girls are bought and sold. But the lack of maternal care, education about birth control, and the extreme poverty of the girls' families are also part of the complicated equation that causes these deaths. For the sake of Fawziya, Nujood, Elham, and all the other girls whose lives are at risk, we need to face these facts head-on.
This story is a little different, but no less tragic. Another 12-year-old Yemeni girl, named Elham Mahdi, was married to a man twice her age. But she died only three days after her wedding. The cause of death was internal bleeding following sexual intercourse.
This case represents the latest in a series of well-publicized stories of child brides in Yemen, where the U.N. estimates that 1 in 3 girls are married off before the age of 18. Early marriage is often a financial necessity for families, who often extract a promise from the husband to wait to consummate the marriage until the bride is older.
"Early marriage places girls at increased risk of dropping out of school, being exposed to violence, abuse and exploitation, and even losing their lives from pregnancy, childbirth and other complications," UNICEF said, quoted in a CNN article. They also cited the story of Fawziya Ammodi, the young woman who died in childbirth last fall, as well as the divorce trial of 10-year-old Nujood Ali, who escaped from a husband who beat and raped her in the weeks following their wedding.
As the president of the Seyaj Organization for the Protection of Children points out, the immediate cause of many of these deaths is poor medical care and, in the case of girls who die in childbirth, an inability or unwillingness to use contraceptives. But he says that the underlying problem is the fact that child marriages are still so common.
I wrote last fall that I hope that we don't simply condemn Yemeni extremists, although there are certainly people in the government who are using Sharia law to prop up a patriarchal system where girls are bought and sold. But the lack of maternal care, education about birth control, and the extreme poverty of the girls' families are also part of the complicated equation that causes these deaths. For the sake of Fawziya, Nujood, Elham, and all the other girls whose lives are at risk, we need to face these facts head-on.
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Exclusive delirium, in my opinion
You've the right to think anything you want...
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